Behold, days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
The prophet's fourth vision is a basket of summer fruit: Israel is ripe. The judgment that follows is not sword or plague but silence from God. The verse raises a hard question: what happens to a people when the God they stopped listening to stops speaking?
Amos 8 announces that the end has arrived and that God will not pass by any longer. One commentator names Israel's worst famine and ties it to their sin:
Amos 8 opens with a fourth symbol — a basket of summer fruit, showing how near as well as how sure the end was for Israel... Their worst famine would be one of the word (verses 11, 12): they will feel the lack of what they despised.
This famine is not empty barns or dry wells. God takes away His own speaking, and the search that follows finds nothing:
A great famine is announced. It is not to be a famine for bread, or thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. He is going to take away His Word and the light of His revelation from them completely. Then they would long for the Word of the Lord they had despised, and would look for it in vain. They will wander here and there from sea to sea, from the north to the east. They will run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord and will not find it. Such was the case with them when the cruel Assyrian power took hold on them and carried them away.
This famine also has a place in Israel's future. It falls in a time of trouble, before a remnant of the nation is brought into blessing:
Amos speaks of the troubles that will come on Israel before the remnant of them are brought into blessing. He prophesies that there will be a famine of the "words of Jehovah." When judgements are falling on them, they will look for some word from God to guide and comfort them, but will not find it. For a time God will leave them in darkness and confusion.
This famine is not measured by how many copies of Scripture exist. Israel had the text read aloud week by week and still starved:
How many are there who read the Bible as a routine, and get nothing for their souls? Why is this? Are we not told that Moses and the prophets were read in the Jewish synagogue every Sabbath day? They had the Scriptures in their hands and read them at set times. Yet there was such a famine of the word of God that they did not know the One those Scriptures spoke about. They fulfilled those very Scriptures by condemning Him.
The same writer names the cure: "Christ is our Life-sustainer; and many are faint, and in perplexity and uncertainty, because they do not go to Him to be nourished by His truth" (The Christian's Friend).
Amos describes a hunger. One writer sets that hunger beside the crowds who came to hear Jesus:
These sheep of Israel and also other sheep not of that fold were "consumed with hunger in the land." For the Pharisees and scribes were shepherds who worked only for pay, and their days were like the days the prophet Amos wrote about... Is it any wonder, then, that the crowds listened with tireless eagerness to the words of life from Jehovah's diligent Servant? He spoke with authority and love, not as the scribes did, and not as any other man.
Commentators apply the verse forward as well as backward. Gaebelein sees a judgment like this "fast approaching for Christendom, which in its turning away from God rejects the Word of the Lord and turns to fables, till the day comes when the Spirit will leave. As a result there will be a famine of the Word, no comfort and no help for those who are ripe for judgment." Another writer sees the same thing starting now:
How solemnly we see, all around us, the fulfilment of Scripture warnings!... Religious people today are celebrating the decay of faith and the rise of rationalism dressed up as something it is not. One day they will look in vain for the light they once despised and rejected.
- Despised. The famine is not random hardship. It fits the sin: they will miss what they refused to value.
- Withdrawn. God's answer to contempt is not thunder but silence — His Word and the light of His revelation taken away.
- Searched. They wander from sea to sea, looking for guidance while judgment falls. God leaves them in darkness and confusion.
- Owned. Bibles on the shelf do not end a famine. The synagogue read Moses week by week and still did not recognise the One the Scriptures spoke about.
- Fed. The crowds hung on Christ's words. Many stay faint only because they do not go to Him to be fed by His truth.
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
Amos has just seen a basket of summer fruit, a sign that Israel's end had come. The famine God announces is not one of bread but of His words, and people will cross the map hunting for them in vain.
One writer links the sign that opens this chapter with the famine that follows.
Amos 8 opens with a fourth symbol — a basket of summer fruit, showing how near as well as how certain the end was for Israel... Their worst famine would be one of the word (verses 11, 12): they will feel the want of what they despised.
The punishment matches the sin. Israel had heard the word and thought little of it. Now God takes it away, and they learn its worth by its loss.
The search in this verse is not idle curiosity. It starts once judgment has already fallen.
In speaking of the troubles that will come on Israel before God brings the remnant of them into blessing, Amos prophesies that there will be a famine of the "words of Jehovah." When judgments are falling on them, they will seek some word from God for guidance and comfort, but will not find it. God will leave them in darkness and confusion for a time.
Another writer summarises the same chapter as the announcement of a people cut off from direction:
The prophet also announces the distress the people would come into from being deprived of all guidance from Jehovah.
One commentator reads the wandering of this verse as God taking back His own light, and names when it happened:
His Word and the light of His revelation is to be completely withdrawn from them. The Word of the Lord which they despised they would then long to seek in vain. They will wander here and there from sea to sea, from the north to the east; they will run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord and will not find it. That was their case when the cruel Assyrian power took hold of them and carried them away.
A famine of the word is not the same as having no Bibles. One writer points to people who had the Scriptures read aloud every week and still starved:
Some believers may be ready to say, "If we are deprived of all the Lord's gifts, we still have the Bible." True... But there is another side to this. How many read the Bible as a routine and get nothing for their souls? Are we not told that they read Moses and the prophets in the Jewish synagogue every Sabbath day? They had the Scriptures in their hands and read them at set times. Yet there was such a famine of the word of God that they did not know the One those Scriptures spoke of. They even fulfilled those Scriptures by condemning Him.
The same writer warns that no amount of activity can replace the missing food:
All the efforts and devices put into action, and all supposed improvements in organisation, must completely fail to supply what only personal enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ can give.
Commentators apply the threat past Israel to anyone who discards God's truth. Gaebelein sees the same judgment approaching now:
Such a judgment is fast approaching for the Christian world too. Having turned away from God, it rejects the Word of the Lord and turns to fables. This goes on until the day comes when the Spirit will leave. The result will be a famine of the Word — no comfort and no help for those who are ripe for judgment.
Another writer sees the same pattern at work now:
In what a solemn way we see all around us the fulfilment of Scripture warnings!... Religious people today celebrate the decay of faith and the advance of rationalism under false colours. One day they will seek in vain the light they once despised and rejected.
The famine is not the end of the story. One writer follows it through to God's answer:
This is the suffering of the "foolish nation." Filled with Jehovah's indignation, they find a snare in what should have fed them. They waste away under a famine more severe than a famine of bread (Amos 8:11-13). Then, in answer to their cry of sorrow, God sends them the word of saving health from above.
- Despised. They had God's word and thought it worthless. The famine answers that sin.
- Withdrawn. God does not argue. He stops speaking, so no guidance and no comfort reach them when judgment falls.
- Wanted. The famine teaches the value of the word. Now they hunt for what they once brushed aside.
- Wandering. Sea to sea and north to east is frantic effort in the wrong direction. Travel cannot recover a word God has withheld.
- Warned. Owning a Bible is no protection. Israel read the Scriptures every week and still condemned the One they spoke of. The same warning stands for anyone who trades God's truth for fables — yet when the hungry cry to God, He sends His saving word from above.
In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst;
Amos 8 ends with a famine that no food can fix — a famine of hearing God's words. Verse 13 shows how far it reaches: even the young women and young men, the strongest in the nation, faint with thirst.
Verse 13 sits inside a chapter about an ending. One writer sums up what God announces there:
Amos 8 renews the declaration that the end of Israel had come because of their sin. God would no longer pass it over. The prophet also announces the distress the people would come into from being deprived of all guidance from the Lord. Those who trusted in the empty things Israel had set up for themselves would fall, and never rise again.
Earlier in the chapter God names this thirst, and water will not touch it. One writer traces it through Israel's history and past it:
God announces a great famine. It is not a famine for bread, or thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. He will withdraw His Word and the light of His revelation from them completely. They despised the Word of the Lord, and then they would long to find it and fail. They will run to and fro, from sea to sea, from the north to the east, to seek the Word of the Lord, and will not find it. That is what happened to them when the cruel Assyrian power took hold of them and carried them away. Such a judgment is also fast approaching for Christendom. In its falling away it rejects the Word of the Lord and turns to fables. Then the day will come when the Spirit will leave. As a result there will be a famine of the Word, with no comfort and no help for those who are ripe for judgment.
One writer links this fainting to the famine of the word two verses earlier, and marks who it reaches:
Their worst famine would be one of the word (verses 11, 12): they would feel the lack of what they had despised. The freshest and strongest would not escape the suffering (verses 13, 14).
Why send a famine of food at all? One writer answers:
A famine was in the land of Israel. Why? Because the literal famine was to draw attention to the spiritual famine that came before it, a famine for hearing the words of God. Though Israel suffered from the spiritual famine, they did not feel it. So God sent them something they would feel!
What does it look like when God stops speaking? One writer sets that silence at the worst possible moment:
Amos speaks of the troubles that will come upon Israel before God brings the remnant of them into blessing. He prophesies a famine of the "words of the Lord." When judgments are falling on them, they will look for some word from God for guidance and comfort, but will not find it. God will for a time leave them in darkness and perplexity.
What had they leaned on instead? One writer describes the worship that had filled the land:
Idolatry flourished on all sides. They added idol images in Gilgal and Beersheba to the golden calves (Amos 8:14). Then the judgment is announced.
Is this only ancient history? One writer asks the same question of his own day, and names the cause:
Is there not at this moment, with many and in many places, "a famine of the Word"?... Christ is the One who sustains our life. Many are faint, confused and unsure, because they do not go to Him to feed on His truth... May we never separate the Scriptures from Christ, of whom they testify.
- Cause — The young faint because the nation despised God's word. This famine is a judgment, not a change in the weather.
- Withdrawal — God answers contempt with silence. He takes away His word and the light of His revelation, and those who ignored it search for it and find nothing.
- Reach — The thirst spares nobody. The freshest and strongest, the very future of the nation, collapse along with everyone else.
- Result — Judgment falls. They look to God for guidance and comfort and find none. They are left in darkness, with only idols that cannot answer.
- Remedy — The worst famine is the one you cannot feel. Christ sustains the soul's life, so the cure for fainting is to go to Him and feed on His truth.
they that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, [As] thy god, O Dan, liveth! and, [As] the way of Beer-sheba liveth! even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
Amos ends this chapter with an oath — the words people used when they wanted to sound serious. He names three places Israel once held sacred, and says that everyone who swears by them will fall and never get up.
Older translations say "the sin of Samaria" where the ESV says "the Guilt of Samaria." One writer traces the oath sworn by Dan's god back to its beginning, generations before Amos.
When the usurper Jeroboam set up the two calves of gold to be the gods of Israel, he placed one in Dan and one in Bethel (1 Kings 12:28-30). Dying Jacob's prophecy seems to imply the subtle, poisonous, Satanic influence of Dan on his fellow tribes. It describes Dan as "a serpent on the way, a horned snake on the path" (Gen. 49:17). This harmful influence first shows up in history when Micah's carved image was set up in the city of Dan (Judges 18:29-31). The corruption grew under the kings of Israel who followed. Then Amos, before the Assyrian captivity, prophesied of the judgment that would fall on those "that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As your god, O Dan, lives" (Amos 8:14). The serpent's venom had by then spread from Dan through the whole land, and was beyond cure.
The verse also names Beersheba. A Bible dictionary entry on the town links it to Amos's earlier warning about the same places.
The prophet Amos warns the people not to trust in famous places, or in places where God blessed them before, such as Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. The glory of all of them had faded. They must seek the Lord, and they would live. Amos 5:5-6; Amos 8:14.
William Kelly writes about the same places. He says where faith must look when famous religious names serve idolatry.
It was mere vanity or worse to praise the sacred character of spots where God had once spoken. Sadly they were now openly turned to the purposes of idolatry. They were set apart, not to God, but by the self-chosen worship of His people… When idolatrous superstition turns names and places loaded with religious associations against the truth, faith must look simply and only to God Himself.
Amos lists many wrongs in this chapter and ends with an oath. Kelly names the sin that lies under all the rest.
"Hear this word" begins Amos 3, Amos 4, Amos 5, all of them warnings to His guilty people, whose false worship was the mother sin of all other sins.
The verse ends with a fall and no rising. Darby sums up the chapter and says who falls.
Amos 8 renews the declaration that the end of Israel had come because of their sin. God would no longer pass it over. The prophet also announces the distress the people would come into when the Lord left them without any guidance. Those who trusted in the empty things Israel had set up for themselves would fall, and never rise again.
Kelly reads verses 13 and 14 with the famine of God's word promised just before them.
Their worst famine would be one of the word (verses 11, 12): they would feel the want of what they had despised. The freshest and most vigorous would not escape the suffering (verses 13, 14).
Amos says elsewhere that fallen Israel will rise no more. Gaebelein answers those who read such words as the end of the nation.
Some have used "She shall no more rise" as an argument against the future and literal restoration of Israel. The prophet has only God's present government over that generation in view. He does not at all deny a future rising, which the prophetic Word predicts so fully. "There is none to raise her up" — nor could she raise herself up. But the day will come when the Lord in grace will raise her.
- Root — False worship was the mother sin behind Israel's other sins. The chapter's list of wrongs ends with the oaths people swore.
- Spread — The idolatry at Dan began with one carved image. Jeroboam's golden calf followed, and the poison spread under king after king through the whole land.
- Names — Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba had once been places of blessing. Their glory had faded. Only seeking the Lord gives life.
- Result — Those who leaned on what Israel set up for itself fall and never rise. Even the strongest and freshest are not spared.
- Remedy — When famous religious names serve error, faith looks only to God Himself. And the day will come when the Lord in grace raises Israel up.